The production of chemical products, chemical intermediates, solvents for chemical reactions, monomers and the polymers produced from monomers is an important industry. The chemical industry supplies many of the raw materials and finished products that are in use today. Many of the components that are supplied by the chemical industry are produced using petroleum feedstock as the initial source. Some of these components can be refined or otherwise purified directly from the petroleum. Other components need to be subject to further processes or chemical reactions to produce the desired products, or intermediates.
With a growing world population, the demand for products produced in the chemical industry is also increasing. This growing demand places a high burden on the remaining petroleum feedstock, a non-renewable resource.
A need exists to produce chemical products and chemical intermediates from resources other than petroleum. There have been attempts in the past to produce chemicals wherein at least part of the molecule is renewably resourced.